Matthew Clarkson and Mary Biddle published the "Plan of the City of Philadelphia" late in 1762, the year after the death of its creator, Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. Mary Biddle, Scull's daughter and executrix, worked with Matthew Clarkson, the engraver, to publish Scull's work, considered the first detailed map of Philadelphia. (see Snyder, City of Independence, 62)

Scull's survey of the block between Arch and Race from Fifth to Sixth Streets marked the location of the Presbyterian Burial Ground and a few pioneer houses along Fifth Street and Cherry Street.

Martin P. Snyder in City of Independence, ranked Hills' map as "most important," citing its detail and quality of work. City Council approved it with a written commendation.

John Hill served as an engineer in the British Army during the Revolution and after the war set up business in New Jersey as a surveyor and mapmaker. By 1790 he had moved his business to Philadelphia, where he remained for more than two decades. (Snyder, 106)

Hills' survey for Block Three clearly demonstrates the rapid development of real estate in the neighborhood after the Revolution, particularly in the northern half of the block, the Cresson family section.

St. Michael's Lutheran Church was constructed in 1743-1748 midway between Arch and Race streets, on the east side of Fifth Street. When real estate began to sell across Fifth Street in Block Three twenty years later, the church provided a ready landmark for developers' advertisements. Today the United States Mint covers the entire block where the church stood.